The Crisis in Galilee
Chapter Forty-One
DA.383.001
When Christ forbade the people to declare Him king, He knew that
a turning point in His history was reached. Multitudes who
desired to exalt Him to the throne today would turn from Him
tomorrow. The disappointment of their selfish ambition would turn
their love to hatred, and their praise to curses. Yet knowing
this, He took no measures to avert the crisis. From the first He
had held out to His followers no hope of earthly rewards. To one
who came desiring to become His disciple He had said, "The
foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the
Son of man hath not where to lay His head." Matt. 8:20. If
men could have had the world with Christ, multitudes would have
proffered Him their allegiance; but such service He could not
accept. Of those now connected with Him there were many who had
been attracted by the hope of a worldly kingdom. These must be
undeceived. The deep spiritual teaching in the miracle of the
loaves had not been comprehended. This was to be made plain. And
this new revelation would bring with it a closer test.
DA.383.002
The miracle of the loaves was reported far and near, and very
early next morning the people flocked to Bethsaida to see Jesus.
They came in great numbers, by land and sea. Those who had left
Him the preceding night returned, expecting to find Him still
there; for there had been no boat by which He could pass to the
other side. But their search was fruitless, and many repaired to
Capernaum, still seeking Him.
DA.384.001
Meanwhile He had arrived at Gennesaret, after an absence of but
one day. As soon as it was known that He had landed, the people
"ran through that whole region round about, and began to
carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard He
was." Mark 6:55.
DA.384.002
After a time He went to the synagogue, and there those who had
come from Bethsaida found Him. They learned from His disciples
how He had crossed the sea. The fury of the storm, and the many
hours of fruitless rowing against adverse winds, the appearance
of Christ walking upon the water, the fears thus aroused, His
reassuring words, the adventure of Peter and its result, with the
sudden stilling of the tempest and landing of the boat, were all
faithfully recounted to the wondering crowd. Not content with
this, however, many gathered about Jesus, questioning,
"Rabbi, when camest Thou hither?" They hoped to receive
from His own lips a further account of the miracle.
DA.384.003
Jesus did not gratify their curiosity. He sadly said, "Ye
seek Me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat
of the loaves, and were filled." They did not seek Him from
any worthy motive; but as they had been fed with the loaves, they
hoped still to receive temporal benefit by attaching themselves
to Him. The Saviour bade them, "Labor not for the meat which
perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting
life." Seek not merely for material benefit. Let it not be
the chief effort to provide for the life that now is, but seek
for spiritual food, even that wisdom which will endure unto
everlasting life. This the Son of God alone can give; "for
Him hath God the Father sealed."
DA.385.001
For the moment the interest of the hearers was awakened. They
exclaimed, "What shall we do, that we might work the works
of God?" They had been performing many and burdensome works
in order to recommend themselves to God; and they were ready to
hear of any new observance by which they could secure greater
merit. Their question meant, What shall we do that we may deserve
heaven? What is the price we are required to pay in order to
obtain the life to come?
DA.385.002
"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God,
that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." The price of
heaven is Jesus. The way to heaven is through faith in "the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John
1:29.
DA.385.003
But the people did not choose to receive this statement of divine
truth. Jesus had done the very work which prophecy had foretold
that the Messiah would do; but they had not witnessed what their
selfish hopes had pictured as His work. Christ had indeed once
fed the multitude with barley loaves; but in the days of Moses
Israel had been fed with manna forty years, and far greater
blessings were expected from the Messiah. Their dissatisfied
hearts queried why, if Jesus could perform so many wondrous works
as they had witnessed, could He not give health, strength, and
riches to all His people, free them from their oppressors, and
exalt them to power and honor? The fact that He claimed to be the
Sent of God, and yet refused to be Israel's king, was a mystery
which they could not fathom. His refusal was misinterpreted. Many
concluded that He dared not assert His claims because He Himself
doubted as to the divine character of His mission. Thus they
opened their hearts to unbelief, and the seed which Satan had
sown bore fruit of its kind, in misunderstanding and defection.
DA.385.004
Now, half mockingly, a rabbi questioned, "What sign showest
Thou then, that we may see, and believe Thee? what dost Thou
work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written,
He gave them bread from heaven to eat."
DA.385.005
The Jews honored Moses as the giver of the manna, ascribing
praise to the instrument, and losing sight of Him by whom the
work had been accomplished. Their fathers had murmured against
Moses, and had doubted and denied his divine mission. Now in the
same spirit the children rejected the One who bore the message of
God to themselves. "Then said Jesus unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from
heaven." The giver of the manna was standing among them. It
was Christ Himself who had led the Hebrews through the
wilderness, and had daily fed them with the bread from heaven.
That food was a type of the real bread from heaven. The
life-giving Spirit, flowing from the infinite fullness of God, is
the true manna. Jesus said, "The bread of God is that which
cometh down out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world."
John 6:33, R. V.
DA.386.001
Still thinking that it was temporal food to which Jesus referred,
some of His hearers exclaimed, "Lord, evermore give us this
bread." Jesus then spoke plainly: "I am the bread of
life."
DA.386.002
The figure which Christ used was a familiar one to the Jews.
Moses, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had said, "Man
doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of the Lord." And the prophet Jeremiah had
written, "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy
word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart." Deut.
8:3; Jer. 15:16. The rabbis themselves had a saying, that the
eating of bread, in its spiritual significance, was the study of
the law and the practice of good works; and it was often said
that at the Messiah's coming all Israel would be fed. The
teaching of the prophets made plain the deep spiritual lesson in
the miracle of the loaves. This lesson Christ was seeking to open
to His hearers in the synagogue. Had they understood the
Scriptures, they would have understood His words when He said,
"I am the bread of life." Only the day before, the
great multitude, when faint and weary, had been fed by the bread
which He had given. As from that bread they had received physical
strength and refreshment, so from Christ they might receive
spiritual strength unto eternal life. "He that cometh to
Me," He said, "shall never hunger; and he that
believeth on Me shall never thirst." But He added, "Ye
also have seen Me, and believe not."
DA.386.003
They had seen Christ by the witness of the Holy Spirit, by the
revelation of God to their souls. The living evidences of His
power had been before them day after day, yet they asked for
still another sign. Had this been given, they would have remained
as unbelieving as before. If they were not convinced by what they
had seen and heard, it was useless to show them more marvelous
works. Unbelief will ever find excuse for doubt, and will reason
away the most positive proof.
DA.386.004
Again Christ appealed to those stubborn hearts. "Him that
cometh to Me I will in nowise cast out." All who received
Him in faith, He said, should have eternal life. Not one could be
lost. No need for Pharisees and Sadducees to dispute concerning
the future life. No longer need men mourn in hopeless grief over
their dead. "This is the will of Him that sent Me, that
everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have
everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."
DA.387.001
But the leaders of the people were offended, "and they said,
Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we
know? how is it then that He saith, I came down from
heaven?" They tried to arouse prejudice by referring
scornfully to the lowly origin of Jesus. They contemptuously
alluded to His life as a Galilean laborer, and to His family as
being poor and lowly. The claims of this uneducated carpenter,
they said, were unworthy of their attention. And on account of
His mysterious birth they insinuated that He was of doubtful
parentage, thus representing the human circumstances of His birth
as a blot upon His history.
DA.387.002
Jesus did not attempt to explain the mystery of His birth. He
made no answer to the questionings in regard to His having come
down from heaven, as He had made none to the questions concerning
His crossing the sea. He did not call attention to the miracles
that marked His life. Voluntarily He had made Himself of no
reputation, and taken upon Him the form of a servant. But His
words and works revealed His character. All whose hearts were
open to divine illumination would recognize in Him "the
Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John
1:14.
DA.387.003
The prejudice of the Pharisees lay deeper than their questions
would indicate; it had its root in the perversity of their
hearts. Every word and act of Jesus aroused antagonism in them;
for the spirit which they cherished could find in Him no
answering chord.
DA.387.004
"No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me
draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written
in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man
therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh
unto Me." None will ever come to Christ, save those who
respond to the drawing of the Father's love. But God is drawing
all hearts unto Him, and only those who resist His drawing will
refuse to come to Christ.
DA.387.005
In the words, "They shall be all taught of God," Jesus
referred to the prophecy of Isaiah: "All thy children shall
be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy
children." Isa. 54:13. This scripture the Jews appropriated
to themselves. It was their boast that God was their teacher. But
Jesus showed how vain is this claim; for He said, "Every man
therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh
unto Me." Only through Christ could they receive a knowledge
of the Father. Humanity could not endure the vision of His glory.
Those who had learned of God had been listening to the voice of
His Son, and in Jesus of Nazareth they would recognize Him who
through nature and revelation has declared the Father.
DA.388.001
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me
hath everlasting life." Through the beloved John, who
listened to these words, the Holy Spirit declared to the
churches, "This is the record, that God hath given to us
eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son
hath life." 1 John 5:11, 12. And Jesus said, "I will
raise him up at the last day." Christ became one flesh with
us, in order that we might become one spirit with Him. It is by
virtue of this union that we are to come forth from the
grave,--not merely as a manifestation of the power of Christ, but
because, through faith, His life has become ours. Those who see
Christ in His true character, and receive Him into the heart,
have everlasting life. It is through the Spirit that Christ
dwells in us; and the Spirit of God, received into the heart by
faith, is the beginning of the life eternal.
DA.388.002
The people had referred Christ to the manna which their fathers
ate in the wilderness, as if the furnishing of that food was a
greater miracle than Jesus had performed; but He shows how meager
was that gift when compared with the blessings He had come to
bestow. The manna could sustain only this earthly existence; it
did not prevent the approach of death, nor insure immortality;
but the bread of heaven would nourish the soul unto everlasting
life. The Saviour said, "I am that bread of life. Your
fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is
the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat
thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from
heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live
forever." To this figure Christ now adds another. Only
through dying could He impart life to men, and in the words that
follow He points to His death as the means of salvation. He says,
"The bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give
for the life of the world."
DA.388.003
The Jews were about to celebrate the Passover at Jerusalem, in
commemoration of the night of Israel's deliverance, when the
destroying angel smote the homes of Egypt. In the paschal lamb
God desired them to behold the Lamb of God, and through the
symbol receive Him who gave Himself for the life of the world.
But the Jews had come to make the symbol all-important, while its
significance was unnoticed. They discerned not the Lord's body.
The same truth that was symbolized in the paschal service was
taught in the words of Christ. But it was still undiscerned.
DA.389.001
Now the rabbis exclaimed angrily, "How can this Man give us
His flesh to eat?" They affected to understand His words in
the same literal sense as did Nicodemus when he asked, "How
can a man be born when he is old?" John 3:4. To some extent
they comprehended the meaning of Jesus, but they were not willing
to acknowledge it. By misconstruing His words, they hoped to
prejudice the people against Him.
DA.389.002
Christ did not soften down His symbolical representation. He
reiterated the truth in yet stronger language: "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My
flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise
him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood
is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood,
dwelleth in Me, and I in him."
DA.389.003
To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ is to receive Him
as a personal Saviour, believing that He forgives our sins, and
that we are complete in Him. It is by beholding His love, by
dwelling upon it, by drinking it in, that we are to become
partakers of His nature. What food is to the body, Christ must be
to the soul. Food cannot benefit us unless we eat it, unless it
becomes a part of our being. So Christ is of no value to us if we
do not know Him as a personal Saviour. A theoretical knowledge
will do us no good. We must feed upon Him, receive Him into the
heart, so that His life becomes our life. His love, His grace,
must be assimilated.
DA.389.004
But even these figures fail to present the privilege of the
believer's relation to Christ. Jesus said, "As the living
Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth
Me, even he shall live by Me." As the Son of God lived by
faith in the Father, so are we to live by faith in Christ. So
fully was Jesus surrendered to the will of God that the Father
alone appeared in His life. Although tempted in all points like
as we are, He stood before the world untainted by the evil that
surrounded Him. Thus we also are to overcome as Christ overcame.
DA.389.005
Are you a follower of Christ? Then all that is written concerning
the spiritual life is written for you, and may be attained
through uniting yourself to Jesus. Is your zeal languishing? has
your first love grown cold? Accept again of the proffered love of
Christ. Eat of His flesh, drink of His blood, and you will become
one with the Father and with the Son.
DA.390.001
The unbelieving Jews refused to see any except the most literal
meaning in the Saviour's words. By the ritual law they were
forbidden to taste blood, and they now construed Christ's
language into a sacrilegious speech, and disputed over it among
themselves. Many even of the disciples said, "This is an
hard saying; who can hear it?"
DA.390.002
The Saviour answered them: "Doth this offend you? What and
if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before? It
is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are
life."
DA.390.003
The life of Christ that gives life to the world is in His word.
It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons;
by His word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead; and the
people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the
word of God, as He had spoken through all the prophets and
teachers of the Old Testament. The whole Bible is a manifestation
of Christ, and the Saviour desired to fix the faith of His
followers on the word. When His visible presence should be
withdrawn, the word must be their source of power. Like their
Master, they were to live "by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of God." Matt. 4:4.
DA.390.004
As our physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual life
is sustained by the word of God. And every soul is to receive
life from God's word for himself. As we must eat for ourselves in
order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the word for
ourselves. We are not to obtain it merely through the medium of
another's mind. We should carefully study the Bible, asking God
for the aid of the Holy Spirit, that we may understand His word.
We should take one verse, and concentrate the mind on the task of
ascertaining the thought which God has put in that verse for us.
We should dwell upon the thought until it becomes our own, and we
know "what saith the Lord."
DA.390.005
In His promises and warnings, Jesus means me. God so loved the
world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that I by believing in
Him, might not perish, but have everlasting life. The experiences
related in God's word are to be my experiences. Prayer and
promise, precept and warning, are mine. "I am crucified with
Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me , and gave Himself for me."
Gal. 2:20. As faith thus receives and assimilates the principles
of truth, they become a part of the being and the motive power of
the life. The word of God, received into the soul, molds the
thoughts, and enters into the development of character.
DA.391.001
By looking constantly to Jesus with the eye of faith, we shall be
strengthened. God will make the most precious revelations to His
hungering, thirsting people. They will find that Christ is a
personal Saviour. As they feed upon His word, they find that it
is spirit and life. The word destroys the natural, earthly
nature, and imparts a new life in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit
comes to the soul as a Comforter. By the transforming agency of
His grace, the image of God is reproduced in the disciple; he
becomes a new creature. Love takes the place of hatred, and the
heart receives the divine similitude. This is what it means to
live "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of
God." This is eating the Bread that comes down from heaven.
DA.391.002
Christ had spoken a sacred, eternal truth regarding the relation
between Himself and His followers. He knew the character of those
who claimed to be His disciples, and His words tested their
faith. He declared that they were to believe and act upon His
teaching. All who received Him would partake of His nature, and
be conformed to His character. This involved the relinquishment
of their cherished ambitions. It required the complete surrender
of themselves to Jesus. They were called to become
self-sacrificing, meek and lowly in heart. They must walk in the
narrow path traveled by the Man of Calvary, if they would share
in the gift of life and the glory of heaven.
DA.391.003
The test was too great. The enthusiasm of those who had sought to
take Him by force and make Him king grew cold. This discourse in
the synagogue, they declared, had opened their eyes. Now they
were undeceived. In their minds His words were a direct
confession that He was not the Messiah, and that no earthly
rewards were to be realized from connection with Him. They had
welcomed His miracle-working power; they were eager to be freed
from disease and suffering; but they would not come into sympathy
with His self-sacrificing life. They cared not for the mysterious
spiritual kingdom of which He spoke. The insincere, the selfish,
who had sought Him, no longer desired Him. If He would not devote
His power and influence to obtaining their freedom from the
Romans, they would have nothing to do with Him.
DA.391.004
Jesus told them plainly, "There are some of you that believe
not;" adding, "Therefore said I unto you, that no man
can come unto Me, 392 except it were given unto him of My
Father." He wished them to understand that if they were not
drawn to Him it was because their hearts were not open to the
Holy Spirit. "The natural man receiveth not the things of
the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can
he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1
Cor. 2:14. It is by faith that the soul beholds the glory of
Jesus. This glory is hidden, until, through the Holy Spirit,
faith is kindled in the soul.
DA.392.001
By the public rebuke of their unbelief these disciples were still
further alienated from Jesus. They were greatly displeased, and
wishing to wound the Saviour and gratify the malice of the
Pharisees, they turned their backs upon Him, and left Him with
disdain. They had made their choice,--had taken the form without
the spirit, the husk without the kernel. Their decision was never
afterward reversed; for they walked no more with Jesus.
DA.392.002
"Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His
floor, and gather His wheat into the garner." Matt. 3:12.
This was one of the times of purging. By the words of truth, the
chaff was being separated from the wheat. Because they were too
vain and self-righteous to receive reproof, too world-loving to
accept a life of humility, many turned away from Jesus. Many are
still doing the same thing. Souls are tested today as were those
disciples in the synagogue at Capernaum. When truth is brought
home to the heart, they see that their lives are not in
accordance with the will of God. They see the need of an entire
change in themselves; but they are not willing to take up the
self-denying work. Therefore they are angry when their sins are
discovered. They go away offended, even as the disciples left
Jesus, murmuring, "This is an hard saying; who can hear
it?"
DA.392.003
Praise and flattery would be pleasing to their ears; but the
truth is unwelcome; they cannot hear it. When the crowds follow,
and the multitudes are fed, and the shouts of triumph are heard,
their voices are loud in praise; but when the searching of God's
Spirit reveals their sin, and bids them leave it, they turn their
backs upon the truth, and walk no more with Jesus.
DA.392.004
As those disaffected disciples turned away from Christ, a
different spirit took control of them. They could see nothing
attractive in Him whom they had once found so interesting. They
sought out His enemies, for they were in harmony with their
spirit and work. They misinterpreted His words, falsified His
statements, and impugned His motives. They sustained their course
by gathering up every item that could be turned against Him; and
such indignation was stirred up by these false reports that His
life was in danger.
DA.393.001
The news spread swiftly that by His own confession Jesus of
Nazareth was not the Messiah. And thus in Galilee the current of
popular feeling was turned against Him, as, the year before, it
had been in Judea. Alas for Israel! They rejected their Saviour,
because they longed for a conqueror who would give them temporal
power. They wanted the meat which perishes, and not that which
endures unto everlasting life.
DA.393.002
With a yearning heart, Jesus saw those who had been His disciples
departing from Him, the Life and the Light of men. The
consciousness that His compassion was unappreciated, His love
unrequited, His mercy slighted, His salvation rejected, filled
Him with sorrow that was inexpressible. It was such developments
as these that made Him a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief.
DA.393.003
Without attempting to hinder those who were leaving Him, Jesus
turned to the twelve and said, "Will ye also go away?"
DA.393.004
Peter replied by asking, "Lord, to whom shall we go?"
"Thou hast the words of eternal life," he added.
"And we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the
Son of the living God."
DA.393.005
"To whom shall we go?" The teachers of Israel were
slaves to formalism. The Pharisees and Sadducees were in constant
contention. To leave Jesus was to fall among sticklers for rites
and ceremonies, and ambitious men who sought their own glory. The
disciples had found more peace and joy since they had accepted
Christ than in all their previous lives. How could they go back
to those who had scorned and persecuted the Friend of sinners?
They had long been looking for the Messiah; now He had come, and
they could not turn from His presence to those who were hunting
His life, and had persecuted them for becoming His followers.
DA.393.006
"To whom shall we go?" Not from the teaching of Christ,
His lessons of love and mercy, to the darkness of unbelief, the
wickedness of the world. While the Saviour was forsaken by many
who had witnessed His wonderful works, Peter expressed the faith
of the disciples,--"Thou art that Christ." The very
thought of losing this anchor of their souls filled them with
fear and pain. To be destitute of a Saviour was to be adrift on a
dark and stormy sea.
DA.393.007
Many of the words and acts of Jesus appear mysterious to finite
minds, but every word and act had its definite purpose in the
work for our redemption; each was calculated to produce its own
result. If we were capable of understanding His purposes, all
would appear important, complete, and in harmony with His
mission.
DA.394.001
While we cannot now comprehend the works and ways of God, we can
discern His great love, which underlies all His dealings with
men. He who lives near to Jesus will understand much of the
mystery of godliness. He will recognize the mercy that
administers reproof, that tests the character, and brings to
light the purpose of the heart.
DA.394.002
When Jesus presented the testing truth that caused so many of His
disciples to turn back, He knew what would be the result of His
words; but He had a purpose of mercy to fulfill. He foresaw that
in the hour of temptation every one of His beloved disciples
would be severely tested. His agony in Gethsemane, His betrayal
and crucifixion, would be to them a most trying ordeal. Had no
previous test been given, many who were actuated by merely
selfish motives would have been connected with them. When their
Lord was condemned in the judgment hall; when the multitude who
had hailed Him as their king hissed at Him and reviled Him; when
the jeering crowd cried, "Crucify Him!"--when their
worldly ambitions were disappointed, these self-seeking ones
would, by renouncing their allegiance to Jesus, have brought upon
the disciples a bitter, heart-burdening sorrow, in addition to
their grief and disappointment in the ruin of their fondest
hopes. In that hour of darkness, the example of those who turned
from Him might have carried others with them. But Jesus brought
about this crisis while by His personal presence He could still
strengthen the faith of His true followers.
DA.394.003
Compassionate Redeemer, who in the full knowledge of the doom
that awaited Him, tenderly smoothed the way for the disciples,
prepared them for their crowning trial, and strengthened them for
the final test!
[The Bible Says Home Page][Previous Chapter][Next Chapter][Table of Contents]